Turn Surveys Into Useful, Actionable Data

August 1, 2026

Client surveys are often treated as simple feedback tools. A business sends a questionnaire, reviews a few responses, and perhaps makes a note of recurring complaints or compliments. That is useful, but it captures only a small portion of what modern survey data can accomplish.

A well-designed client survey can become the starting point for an entire workflow. It can collect information directly from the client, organize that information into a predictable structure, and make the resulting data available to case-management systems, document templates, artificial-intelligence agents, reporting tools, and other applications.

For law firms, the benefit begins with intake. Clients frequently possess much of the information that a firm needs to open and manage a matter: names, addresses, contact information, family relationships, important dates, property details, employment information, opposing-party information, and descriptions of relevant events. Traditionally, an employee gathers this information by telephone, email, or handwritten form and then manually re-enters it into one or more systems.

Client surveys can eliminate much of that duplicate work.

Let Clients Provide Their Own Case Information

FeraMatters allows clients to populate their own case information through structured surveys. Instead of requiring a staff member to type every name, date, address, and factual response, the client enters the information directly.

The firm does not have to accept the information blindly. Firm users can review and audit the submitted data for completeness, consistency, and quality before it becomes active case information. This creates an efficient balance: the client performs the initial data entry, while the firm retains control over what information is approved and used.

That process can reduce transcription errors, shorten intake time, and allow employees to focus on legal analysis and client service rather than repetitive data entry.

Survey Data Is Not Limited to One Platform

The value of structured survey responses extends beyond FeraMatters. Responses can be downloaded in formats that are easy to review, store, transform, and import into other systems.

For example, survey data may be made available as JSON:

{
  "surveyId": "family-law-intake-001",
  "responseId": "RESP-2026-10452",
  "submittedAt": "2026-08-01T10:15:00-04:00",

  "court": {
    "name": "Circuit Court of Richmond County",
    "state": "Virginia",
    "filingDate": "2026-08-05"
  },

  "plaintiff": {
    "fullLegalName": "Jordan Alexis Taylor",
    "dateOfBirth": "1987-04-12",
    "email": "jordan.taylor@example.com",
    "phone": "804-555-0148",
    "address": {
      "street": "124 Courthouse Road",
      "city": "Warsaw",
      "county": "Richmond County",
      "state": "VA",
      "postalCode": "22572"
    },
    "virginiaResidentSince": "2020-03-01",
    "militaryService": false,
    "representation": "Pro se",
    "formerNameRestorationRequested": false
  },

  "defendant": {
    "fullLegalName": "Morgan Lee Taylor",
    "dateOfBirth": "1985-09-23",
    "email": "morgan.taylor@example.com",
    "phone": "804-555-0186",
    "address": {
      "street": "208 History Land Highway",
      "city": "Warsaw",
      "county": "Richmond County",
      "state": "VA",
      "postalCode": "22572"
    },
    "virginiaResidentSince": "2021-06-15",
    "militaryService": false,
    "serviceMethod": "Personal service at residential address"
  },

  "marriage": {
    "date": "2014-06-14",
    "place": {
      "city": "Williamsburg",
      "state": "Virginia"
    },
    "lastMaritalResidence": {
      "street": "124 Courthouse Road",
      "city": "Warsaw",
      "county": "Richmond County",
      "state": "VA",
      "postalCode": "22572"
    }
  },

  "separation": {
    "date": "2025-07-01",
    "continuous": true,
    "withoutCohabitation": true,
    "withoutInterruption": true,
    "withoutReconciliation": true,
    "intendedToBePermanent": true
  },

  "grounds": {
    "type": "No-fault divorce based on more than one year of separation",
    "faultGroundsRequested": false
  },

  "children": [
    {
      "fullLegalName": "Riley Morgan Taylor",
      "dateOfBirth": "2017-03-08",
      "parents": [
        "Jordan Alexis Taylor",
        "Morgan Lee Taylor"
      ],
      "currentAddress": {
        "street": "124 Courthouse Road",
        "city": "Warsaw",
        "county": "Richmond County",
        "state": "VA",
        "postalCode": "22572"
      },
      "hasLivedInVirginiaForPastSixMonths": true,
      "currentCustodian": "Jordan Alexis Taylor"
    }
  ],

  "pregnancy": {
    "eitherPartyPregnantFromMarriage": false
  },

  "custodyProceedings": {
    "custodyRequestedFromCourt": false,
    "resolvedBySeparationAgreement": true,
    "otherPendingOrPriorCustodyCases": false,
    "thirdPartiesClaimingCustodyOrVisitation": false
  },

  "separationAgreement": {
    "title": "Property Settlement and Separation Agreement",
    "date": "2025-08-20",
    "signedByBothParties": true,
    "notarized": true,
    "challenged": false,
    "attachedToComplaint": true,
    "exhibitLabel": "Exhibit A",
    "incorporationRequested": true,
    "mergerRequested": false,
    "survivalRequested": true,
    "resolves": [
      "Legal custody",
      "Physical custody",
      "Parenting time",
      "Child support",
      "Health insurance",
      "Unreimbursed medical expenses",
      "Spousal support",
      "Marital property",
      "Marital debts",
      "Retirement accounts",
      "Vehicles",
      "Attorney fees"
    ]
  },

  "agreementSummary": {
    "legalCustody": "Joint legal custody",
    "physicalCustody": "Jordan Alexis Taylor has primary physical custody",
    "parentingTime": "Morgan Lee Taylor has alternating weekends from Friday at 6:00 p.m. through Sunday at 6:00 p.m., Wednesdays from 4:00 p.m. through 8:00 p.m., alternating holidays, and two nonconsecutive weeks each summer",
    "childSupport": {
      "payor": "Morgan Lee Taylor",
      "payee": "Jordan Alexis Taylor",
      "monthlyAmount": 875,
      "effectiveDate": "2025-09-01",
      "arrears": 0
    },
    "healthInsuranceForChildProvidedBy": "Morgan Lee Taylor",
    "unreimbursedMedicalExpenses": {
      "Jordan Alexis Taylor": 45,
      "Morgan Lee Taylor": 55
    },
    "spousalSupport": "Both parties permanently waive spousal support",
    "maritalResidence": {
      "address": "124 Courthouse Road, Warsaw, Virginia 22572",
      "awardedTo": "Jordan Alexis Taylor",
      "refinancingCompleted": true,
      "defendantInterestTransferred": true
    },
    "retirement": "Each party retains all retirement accounts in that party's own name",
    "vehicles": {
      "Jordan Alexis Taylor": "2021 Honda Pilot",
      "Morgan Lee Taylor": "2020 Ford F-150"
    },
    "attorneyFees": "Each party is responsible for that party's own attorney fees"
  },

  "otherProceedings": {
    "otherDivorceActions": false,
    "supportCasesOutsideAgreement": false,
    "protectiveOrders": false,
    "bankruptcyCases": false
  },

  "requestedRelief": {
    "grantFinalDivorce": true,
    "incorporateAgreementWithoutMerger": true,
    "awardAdditionalEquitableDistribution": false,
    "awardAdditionalSpousalSupport": false,
    "awardAdditionalChildSupport": false,
    "awardAttorneyFees": false,
    "taxCourtCostsAsCourtDeemsProper": true
  },

  "documentsAvailable": [
    "Certified marriage certificate",
    "Property Settlement and Separation Agreement dated August 20, 2025",
    "Child's birth certificate"
  ],

  "generationInstructions": {
    "outputFormat": "DOCX",
    "useBracketedPlaceholders": false,
    "omitInapplicableAllegations": true,
    "doNotInventFacts": true
  }
}

Because the information is structured, each response can be identified and used individually. A system can distinguish the client’s first name from the opposing party’s name, recognize dates as dates, and process selected answers as lists rather than unorganized paragraphs.

Automatically Generate Documents

Structured survey data can be combined with Word templates to produce drafts of letters, agreements, pleadings, intake summaries, engagement documents, or internal checklists.

A template may contain fields such as:

Client name
Matter type
Date of marriage
Date of separation
Names of children
Opposing party
Requested relief

Once the client submits the survey and the firm approves the information, those fields can be inserted automatically. The resulting document should still be reviewed by a qualified user, but the first draft can be created in seconds rather than assembled manually.

Connect Surveys to Imports, Reporting, and AI

Survey responses can also be imported into customer relationship management systems, accounting platforms, spreadsheets, databases, and reporting tools. Firms can analyze how clients found the business, which services they request, how quickly intake is completed, and where clients commonly abandon the process.

Artificial-intelligence agents can use approved survey data to summarize facts, identify missing information, prepare follow-up questions, categorize matters, or assist with draft preparation. Because the agent receives structured data instead of an unorganized email chain, it can often produce more consistent and useful results.

The greatest benefit of surveying clients is therefore not merely learning what they think. It is creating reliable, reusable data. When thoughtfully collected and carefully reviewed, client responses can move directly into the systems, documents, reports, and workflows that keep a modern firm operating efficiently.

Try it now… copy the dataset above, then in your favorite AI, use the prompt: “turn the attached data into a divorce complaint in Richmond county, Virginia, put bracketed placeholders where data is needed and return it as a word document”.

Turn Surveys Into Useful, Actionable Data

Let Clients Provide Their Own Case Information

Survey Data Is Not Limited to One Platform

Automatically Generate Documents

Connect Surveys to Imports, Reporting, and AI

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